Field



(Model.) Y 3 sheets-sheet 1.

. s.. D. WARFIELD.

MACHINE EOE CUTTING GREEN CORN FROM TEE COB.

No.'281,588 Patented Julyfl?, 1883.1

' v-'F-H-:l` l

Irl..

mllmllm MIHHIIIIHI (Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2. S. D. WAREIELD. I

MACHINE FOB. GTIJTTINfJrv GREEN CORN ERUM THE GOB. 180.281.588.

I Patented July 17,v 1883.

-F-HE E 1E- 4- NTI- 1 N. FUCHS, mamhgnpher. wnhingwn. 11C.

(Medel.) C asheete-sheet 8.

' S. D; WARFIELD.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING GREEN CORN FROM THE COB.

No. 281,588. Petented July 17, 1888.w

-` I- lE VSE-- N. PETERS. mlvmmnplm. wamingw, ILC.

- scale.

"UixuTl-:lil STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SOLOMON VARFIELD, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING GREEN CORN FROM THE COB.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 281,588, dated July17,1883. Application filed January 22, 1883.. (Model.)

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SOLOMON DAvrEs WAR- FIELD, of the city of Baltimoreand State of Maryland, have invented certain Improvements in Green-CornCutters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in various parts of themachine, as will hereinafter fully appear. l

In the description of the invention which fol-A lows, Figure I. is aside elevation of the improved machine. Figs. II to IX, inclusive, aredetails of the invention on an enlarged Fig. X illustrates a modicationin a part of the machine.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in all the views.

A is a table supported by suitable legs, B.

C C are rods which pass through and are secured in lugs c on the table Aand sustain thel head-plate D. The rods C, for reasons here-` inafterset forth, are extended to the floor, and they, together with the legsB, may be coupled together by a frame or iloor plate, (not-showm) ifdesired.

Eis a reciprocating head, to which the cutting knives 'and a number ofother devices which regulate the cutting and other operations,hereinafter described, are united. In order that the head E may slidefreely on the rods O, the boxes b, which form a part of the said head,and through which the rods C pass, have a length considerably in excessof their diameter, and they are either accurately bored to suit the rodsG, or cast with holes much larger than the rods, and the annular spacethus formed lled with Babbitt metal, which latter method cheapens themanufacture.

F F are brackets fastened to the upper face of the head E, (sceparticularly Figs. II, III, and IV,) in which the knife-plates G areadapted to slide. In the drawings the said knife-plates are shown asdovetailed into the brackets F; but I do not limit myself to thisarrangement, as they can be held in various other ways to admit of theirhaving the sliding movement described.

H H are knives which consist of pieces of sheet-steel bent in the formshown in Figs. I, III, IV, and IX, and slotted to admit of theirattachment to the knife-plates G by means of a screw, c. The knives areconstructed to interlock, so that they can be drawn together to suit thesmallest ear usually met with. The said knives rest in depressions d,which correspond with them in width. Consequently they must invariablyoccupy the same position, and no care need be exercised in resettingthem after they have been removed for sharpening, except in alongitudinal direction.

I. I are rollers on adjustable arms e, secured to the knife-plates G ina manner similar toy the knives H.

K and L are lugs through which rods f, carrying the scrapers g, pass,and they project, respectively, from the brackets F and the knifeplatesG. VThe scrapers g consist of ilat pieces of steel curved or hollowed attheir inner edge, and while they are carried or supported by the rods fthey are not connected directly to them, but to the hub of the lowercob-holders, M, hereinafter more particularly alluded to. Springs li,coiled around a spur, i, on the knifeplates G, with their ends restingagainst pins 7c on the brackets F, serve to force the said knifeplates,with their knives, rollers, scrapers, and other attachments, toward thecenter of the machine, and keep a steady pressure on the ear during thecutting operation. In Fig. X a scraper is shown with an obliquescraping-edge. The scraper-rodsf have an adjustable collar,

Z, secured thereto exteriorly of the lug L. Consequently in the backwardmovement of the knife-plates the Scrapers are carried in the samedirection, but as it is necessary that the scrapers should exercise acertain pressure on the ear independently of that producedby the springh, I place between the cob-holdersiM and the lug L a spiral spring, m.This can be placed between the collar Z and the lug K, and asimilareffect produced, if desired.

. N is a pointed center bar, upon which. the ear to be cut is placed,and it projects from the center ofthe table A. (See Fig. VIII.)

O is the centering device, which consists of a hub with flaring prongsextending from its upper surface, adapted to slide on the center rod, N.This centering device is shown as held yieldingly by a volute spring, u;but a weighted lever or other device may be used IOO for the purposewithout materially affecting the operation of the machine.

The sliding head E is counterbalanced by weights I, to which it isconnected by means of ropes or chains o, which pass over sheaves p onthehead-plateD.' To prevent the weights having a swinging or vibratorymovement, I adapt them to slide on the rods C, which extend below thetable to admit of this connection.

The machine can be operated by the foot through the medium of a treadle,or by handpower; but it is designed, where practicable, to effect thevertical reciprocating movement of the plate E and its attachments bymeans of cranks or crank-wheels q, connected tothe said plate by rods r,the said crank-wheels being fastened to a driving-shaft, s, havingadriving-pulley, t, thereon, as shown in Fig. I of the drawings. Thehangers or bearings forv the driving-shaft are not shown, as theyem-vbody no part of my invention, and their illus-- tration would only tendto a complication of lines and obscure other parts of the machine.IParts of the invention not yet alluded to will be described and theiruses set forth in the description of the operation of the machine whichfollows.

Supposing the machine to bein operation, and the head E at its highestpoint, an ear of eorn is placed in the pronged centering-device O andpressed down. ing-prongs yield, the ear is guided to the eenter point ofthe rod N, on which it remains in a practically vertical position. Asthe head E descends7 the point of the ear passes between thegaging-rollers I, and they are forced out, carrying with them theknife-plates G, scrapers g, and knives H. As the head E approaches thecentering-prongs O, projections Eon the lower face of the head strikethe ends of the prongs and force them down and out of the way of therollers I, compressing the springs n in the operation. It will beunderstood that the cutting-edge of theknives H projects suiiicientlyfar within the curved surface of the rollers to give the proper depth ofeut; or, in other words, the rollers are adjusted so that the knives cutthe grain to any depth required, leaving the cob untouched. In themovement of the knife-plates, as described, the scrapers g and thecob-holders M are also forced back, compressing the springs m, and asthe scrapers are set to project beyond the knives, they, upon coming incontact with the cob, detach from the same the port-ion of grain whichis below the surface of the cob. By having the spring m located betweenthe hub of the cob-holder M and thelug L, which moves out with the wholecutting and scraping mechanism, a much shorter spring m is used than ifthe said lug were iixed. The object of this spring, it must beunderstood, is to make the scrapers exert a yielding pressure on the cobindependently of that exerted by the spring 71. Further, it will Whenthe centerbe seen that therollers, by communicating movement-to thescraper-rods through the medium of the lugs L and collar Z, gage, also,the projection of the scrapers, while they are free to move stillfarther back, in view of the compressibility of the springs m.Itfollows, therefore, that in cutting ears devoid of a point, the end ofthe cob cannot strike against the lower side of the scrapers, but isforced between the edges of the series of scrapers and the scrapingaction effected by the pressure of the spring m only.-

The scrapers are pivotcd to the hub of the cob-holder M, in order thatthey may alter their position to suit any longitudinal curvature or anyother irregularity in the shape of the cob. In Fig. V-a scraper isshown, as indicated, in a central position by full lines, and itsextremes in eitherdirection by a dotted de'- lineation. The downwardmovement of the head E and its attachments with-reference to theposition of the ear-when centered is such lthat the scrapers passentirely below the butt of the cob, where they assume their originalpositions. The cob is then in the holders, with the scrapers directlybeneath it, and as the head E rises the cob is drawn from the centerpoint by the scrapers and carried to between the spring upper holders,Q, which are toothed to prevent the withdrawal of the cob as the lowerholders, M, descend in the next downward stroke of the cuttingmechanism. While I prefer to have the cob removed from the center bymeans of the scrapers, I do not wish to be restricted to thisarrangement, as independent devices may be employed to lift the cob fromthe center. The construction of the upper cob-holders, Q, will be seen-by referring to Figs. I and VII, and in the latter iigure the extremesof movement of the holders are indicated by dotted and full lines. Fromthe foregoing description it will be understood that at each upwardstroke of the head E and its attachments a cob is carried by the lowerto the upper holders, and, in entering the latter, forces out the onepreviously deposited. I propose to place over the headpla-te D adeflecting-board or a chute to receive and carry away the cobs as theyleave the holders Q. RR are triangular deeeting-pieccs, (seeparticularly Figs. II, III, and IV,) extending from the roller-arms e,to guide the point of the ear, if the said ear is not quite vertical, tobetween the rollers. These devices are only operative when the point ofthe ear has a tendency to pass exteriorly of instead of between therollers. The grain, when cut from the cob, is thrown 01T radially fromthe knives, and to prevent the scattering ofthe grain and to guide it tothe central opening in the plate E, I employ a hood, S, supported in anysuitable manner, and slotted where necessary for the movement of thecutting and scraping devices. As the grain falls through the centralopening of the head E, it is prevented from coming in IOO IIO

contact with the center rod, N, upon which the prongs O slide, and thesupporting-spring n, by a flexible covering, c, of canvas or othersuitable material, which covering also guides the grain to the openingfw in the table A. The canvas covering, by being attached to the hub ofthe centering-prongs and the table, an-

swers the purpose of a stop for the said prongs in their upwardmovement. I propose to surround the opening w with a ange, T, (shown indotted lines in Fig. VIII,) of some suitable material, to prevent thedispersion ofthe grain. The grain is nally caught in a bucket suspendedunder the table A or placed on the floor near the table, in which lattercase a chute would be employed to conduct it to that receptacle.

While itis advisable to make the center rod, N, as small as possible, toallow the scrapers to come nearly in contact underneath the cob to raiseit in their upward movement, I find that a small rod has a tendency tosplit-the cob as it is forced down in the cutting operation. I thereforehollow the end of the said rod at the root of the point, as shown inFig-VIII, thereby producing an annular projecting edge, which has,practically, the effect of a ferrule to hold the central pithy part ofthe cob closely together. rIhis cupping of the end of the rodeffectually obviates the above-named difculty.

I have described and shown my improved corn-cutter as a verticalmachinethat is to say, the cutting and scraping devices have a verticalreciprocating movement 5 but I do not -limit myself to this design, asthe machine may be placed horizontally.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a green-corn cutter, a reciprocatingcutter-head consisting of a plate with a central opening for the passageof the ear, a series of interlocking knives with holders and suitablesupports susceptible of a radial movement in a constant plane, springsto effect the radial sliding movement of the knives and holders towardthe center of the said plate, and to give a yielding pressure to thesaid knives against the ear during the cutting operation, and gagingdevices against which the ear impinges to effect the outward vmovementof the knives and their attachments, combined with a fixed center rodand yielding centering devices, substantiallyas specified.

2. In a green-corn cutter, a knife-support and knife adapted to have aradial movement in a constant plane, and a scraper fastened to the saidknife-holder or some attachment thereof, adapted to have a similarmovement, and to exert a yielding pressure on the cob independently ofthat produced by the spring which effects the movement ofthe said knifeand its connections, the whole having a reciprocating movement, combinedwith a fixed center rod and yielding centering devices, substantially asspecified. n

3. In a green-corn cutter, the combination of a cutting-head adapted tohave a reciprocating movement longitudinally of the ear of corn,provided with clamping devices to hold the cob after the cuttingoperation, and secondary clamping devices in which the cobis 7o forcedand held until displaced by another cob, substantially as specied.

4. In a green-corn cutter, the combination of a center rod, prongsadapted to slide on the said rod, devices to yieldingly sustain the end73 of the prongs beyond the center point, and a -flexible covering forthe said center rod, to

prevent the contact of the removed grain therewith, substantially 'asspecified.

5. In the cutting-head of a green-corn cutter, hollow-facedgaging-rollers, which serve to initiate the radial movement of thecuttingknives which are connected therewith, provided withdeiiecting-pieces to guide the entering ear to the practically circularspace between the said rollers, substantially as specified.

6. As means for gaging the depth of cut of the knife of a green-corncutter, a hollowfaced roller connected to the said knife, or to someattachment thereof, substantially as specified.

7. In a green-corn cutter, a xed central supporting-rod for the ear,combined with a reciprocating head having a retractive device to removethe cob from its support, substantially as specified.

8. In a green-corn cutter, a non-rotative and reciprocating cutting-headwith knives to surlround the ear, combined with mechanism to effect thereciprocating motion of the said head longitudinally of the ear in thecutting operation, substantially as specified.

9. In a green-corn cutter, a vertically-reciprocating head carryingcutting and scraping devices adapted to slide on bars, 'a headplate toconnect the said bars at their upper end, ksheaves supported by the saidhead-plate, ropes or chains extending from the cuttinglhead over thesaid sheaves, and provided at their other end withcounterbalancing-weights, and means for effecting the reciprocatingmovement of the said cutting-head and its attachments, substantially asspecified.

10. In a green-corn cutter, a vertically-reciprocating head carryingcutting and scrap- IrI ing devices adapted to slide on bars, a headplateto connect the said bars at their upper end, sheaves supported by thesaid head-plate, ropes or chains extending from the cuttinghead over thesaid sheaves, and provided at their other end withcounterbalancing-weights which slide on the said bars, and means foreffecting the reciprocating movement of the said cutting-head and itsattachments, substantially as specified.

soLoMoN DAviEs WARFIELD.

Vitnesses:

EDWARD J. Drees, WM. T. HOWARD.

